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£63 


IC-NRLF 


GIFT  OF 


STUDY  ON 

PLACES  OF  ORIGIN  AND  ABILITY  TO  PROCURE 

SUPPLIES  NEEDED  IN  VAST  QUANTITIES 

IN  TIME  OF  WAR 


PREPARED  BY  THE  WAR  COLLEGE  DIVISION,  GENERAL  STAFF  CORPS 

AS    A    SUPPLEMENT    TO    THE    STATEMENT    OF    A    PROPER   MILITARY 

POLICY  FOR  THE  UNITED  STATES 


WCD  8121-39 


ARMY  WAR  COLLEGE  :  WASHINGTON 

NOVEMBER,   1915 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 
1916 


/-  ^ 


WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
Document  No.  527. 
of  the  Chief  of  Staff . 


vo 


STUDY  ON  PLACES  OF  ORIGIN  AND  ABILITY  TO  PROCURE 
SUPPLIES  NEEDED  IN  VAST  QUANTITIES  IN  TIME  OF 
WAR.  

1.  The  supplies  needed  for  our  armies  in  the  event  of  mobilization 
include  supplies  which  can  be  purchased  in  quantity  at  any  time, 
and  also  those  which  can  not  be  turned  out  except  after  weeks  or 
months  of  delay.    This  delay  would  be  due,  first,  to  the  fact  that  the 
article  is  not  a  standard  article  used  in  quantity  by  the  civilian  com- 
munity; second,  that  the  manufacture  of  some  of  the  articles  re- 
quires special  dies  and  machinery  not  generally  used  by  our  manu- 
facturers. 

2.  The  principles  which  should  be  adopted  therefore  are — 

(a)  To  standardize  all  articles  of  clothing  and  equipment  as  far 
as  possible,  using  designs  that  are  ordinarily  used  by  the  civilian  or 
which  can  be  turned  out  in  quantity  from  hundreds  of  existing 
factories. 

(b)  To  store  up  dies,  machinery,  and  samples  of  special  munitions, 
so  that  in  the  event  of  mobilization  hundreds  of  factories  could  be 
given  the  special  additional  equipment  which  would  enable  them  to 
begin  at  once  the  manufacture  of  these  special  munitions. 

3.  In  order  to  obtain  certain  data  from  the  chiefs  of  the  five  supply 
departments,  each  of  them  on  September  14,  1915,  was  furnished  a 
copy  of  the  paragraphs  below  quoted,  and  also  of  paragraphs  50 
and  52  to  62,  inclusive,  of  the  Statement  of  a  Proper  Military  Policy 
for  the  United  States,  prepared  by  the  War  College  Division  of  the 
General  Staff  Corps,  in  compliance  with  instructions  of  the  Secretary 
of  War,  March,  1915,  and  submitted  to  him  September  11, 1915.    The 
paragraphs  are  as  follows: 

IV. 

Has  any  study  ever  been  made  of  the  places  of  origin  and  ability  to  procure 
the  various  things  which  would  be  needed  by  us  in  vast  quantities  in  time  of 
war?  If  no  such  study  has  been  made,  ought  it  not  to  be  made?  In  other 
words,  does  the  Quartermaster  General  and  the  Chief  or  Ordnance,  and  the 
other  heads  of  bureaus  and  departments,  know  in  a  general  way  what  the  need 
would  be  for  an  army  of  a  million  men,  and  where  they  could  get  all  the  things, 
and  an  assurance  that  in  time  of  war  they  could  get  them?  This  should  be 
considered,  of  course,  in  the  light  of  the  possibility  that  one  or  both  oceans 
are  closed  to  us ;  so  that  there  should  not  only  be  a  survey  and  accurate  knowl- 
edge of  what  could  be  procured  here  and  where  it  could  be  procured  and  how 
long  it  would  take  to  procure  it,  but  of  what  we  would  lack  here  and  whether 
we  could  supply  that  lack  and  whence  and  how  long  it  would  take,  etc. 

30669°— No.  527—16  (3) 

667384 


V. 

Have  we  reports  In  hand  of  what  materiel  should  be  asked  for,  particularly 
ammunition,  small  arms,  small-arm  ammunition,  field  guns,  Artillery,  Field 
Artillery,  Coast  Artillery,  etc.?  If  not,  let  the  suggestions  be  made  as  soon  as 
possible,  so  that  they  can  be  submitted  and  revised  and  some  idea  obtained  of 
totals.  The  same  thing  should  be  done  with  respect  to  all  other  materiel  which 
must  be  kept  on  hand.  In  this  connection  I  think  it  would  be  extremely  ad- 
visable for  us  to  omit  asking  for  anything  as  a  reserve  which  we  undoubtedly 
could  get  speedily  if  needed,  and  confine  ourselves  to  making  a  reserve  of  those 
things  which  require  periods  of  time. 

50.  For  the  purpose  of  storage,  military  supplies  may  be  divided  into  four 
classes — 

(a)  Supplies  that  can  be  obtained  in  great  quantities  in  the  open  market  at 
any  time. 

(&)  Those  that  can  be  obtained  in  sufficient  quantities  on  15  days'  notice. 

(c)  Those  that  can  be  obtained  on  three  months'  notice. 

(d)  Those  that  can  not  be  obtained  within  three  months. 

52.  A  fully  trained  force,  to  be  effective  during  the  critical  period  when  war 
is  imminent  and  during  the  first  few  weeks  of  a  war,  must  not  be  hampered  by 
lack  of  necessary  supplies  and  equipment.     For  this  reason  supplies  of  all 
kinds  which  can  not  be  obtained  in  the  open  market  at  any  time  must  be  kept 
on  hand,  in  use  and  in  store,  at  home  and  oversea,  sufficient  to  equip  without 
delay  all  troops  whose  training  warrants  sending  them  promptly  into  the  field. 

53.  It  is  probable  that  as  soon  as  war  becomes  imminent  the  partially  trained 
citizen  soldiery — 500,000  mobile  troops — will  also  be  called  out.     As  this  par- 
tially trained  force  can  not  be  expected  to  take  the  field  within  three  months' 
time,  it  is  practicable  to  refrain,  after  the  third  year,  from  keeping  on  hand  or 
in  store  for  it  any  articles  of  equipment  except  those  necessary  to  complete  its 
training  and  those  which  can  not  be  procured  within  three  months. 

54.  The  total  number   of  harbor-defense  troops  necessary  is  about  50,000. 
Due  to  conditions  of  service,  it  is  believed  that  ultimately  supplies  of  all  kinds 
for  60,000  should  be  kept  on  hand. 

55.  In  any  great  war  volunteers  must  be  called  out  in  addition  to  the  troops 
above  enumerated. 

56.  It  would  be  unwise  to  have  on  hand  at  the  beginning  of  a  war  merely 
the  supplies  sufficient  to  place  in  the  field  our  first  contingent  of  troops  and  to 
complete  the  training  of  the  partially  trained  citizen  soldiery,  and  to  be  un- 
prepared to  supply  to  even  a  limited  extent  the  volunteer  army  we  should  have 
to  raise,  not  to  mention  replacements  of  arms,  ammunition,  clothing,  and  equip- 
ment of  all  kinds  for  those  already  in  the  field,  but  on  account  of  the  great 
sum  of  money  which  will  be  necessary  in  entering  upon  a  program  for  collect- 
ing and  storing  military  supplies  it  is  believed  that  the  subject  of  equipment 
for  a  volunteer  army  and  replacements  for  the  Regular  Army  and  partially 
trained  citizen  soldiery  should  be  provided  for  by  obtaining  options  with  domes- 
tic manufacturers  to  furnish  the  required  supplies,  all  of  domestic  manufac- 
ture, in  accordance  with  tentative  contracts  to  be  made  by  the  supply  depart- 
ments with  such  manufacturers  in  time  of  peace.     By  so  doing  we  will  be 
taking  the  initial  steps  toward  organizing  the  industrial  and  economic  resources 
of  the  country  as  well  as  its  resources  in  fighting  men, 

527 


57.  Referring  to  "  reserves,"  approximately  the  following  troops  will  be  avail- 
able at  the  close  of  the  successive  years : 


Fully 
trained 
mobile 
troops. 

Partially 
trained 
continen- 
tal army. 

Harbor- 
defense 
troops. 

Total. 

First  year 

160  000 

185  000 

30  000 

375  000 

Second  year  

219  000 

351  '  000 

40  000 

610  000 

Third  year 

320  000 

500  000 

50  000 

870'000 

Fourth  year  •  

383,000 

500,000 

52  000 

935  000 

Fifth  year  .     . 

439  000 

500  000 

54  000 

993*000 

Sixth  year 

489  000 

500  000 

56  000 

1  045  000 

Seventh  year  

534,000 

500  000 

58*000 

1*092*  000 

Eighth  year.  . 

574  000 

500  000 

60  000 

1  134*000 

A  study  of  these  figures  and  of  the  difficulties  we  have  experienced 
in  the  past  in  the  matter  of  supplies  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
program  adopted  for  procuring  reserve  supplies  should  be  such  that 
at  the  close  of  each  year  we  should  have  in  use  and  in  store,  at  home 
and  oversea,  supplies  of  all  kinds  necessary  to  equip : 


Infantry 
divisions. 

Cavalry 
divisions 
of  nine 
regiments. 

Harbor- 
defense 
troops. 

First  year  

13 

3 

30  000 

Second  year  .  .  . 

22 

5 

40  000 

Third  year...      . 

32 

g 

50*  000 

Fourth  year  

34 

7 

52  000 

Fifth  year  

36 

g 

54  COO 

Sixth  year  

37 

56*000 

Seventh  year  

38 

10 

58*  000 

Eighth  year  

40 

10 

60*000 

The  supplies  acquired  during  the  first  three  years  should  include  all  articles 
which  can  not  be  obtained  in  sufficient  quantities  on  fifteen  days'  notice,  those 
acquired  during  the  last  five  years  to  include  only  those  articles  which  can  not 
be  obtained  on  three  months'  notice.  After  the  eighth  year  the  program  should 
be  extended  to  provide  for  the  storing  of  such  additional  machine  guns,  rifles, 
field  guns,  ammunition,  etc.,  as  may  be  considered  advisable. 

58.  In  order  that  vast  supplies  pertaining  to  one  supply  bureau  should  not  be 
secured  and  relatively  nothing  be  done  by  other  supply  bureaus,  supplies  should 
be  obtained  progressively  in  complete  division  units. 

59.  In  order  that  the  efforts  of  the  various  supply  bureaus  may  be  properly 
coordinated  by   the  Chief  of   Staff,   reserve   supplies   should   be   collected   in 
general  supply  depots  located  in  accordance  with  the  general  principle  below 
enumerated.     Each  general  supply  depot  should  be  considered  a  place  of  issue 
in  time  of  peace  for  all  articles  of  field  equipment,  so  that  the  stock  on  hand 
will  be  continually  turned  over  and  the  machinery  for  the  issuing  and  forward- 
ing of  supplies  will  be  in  operation  at  the  outbreak  of  war.     The  commander 
of  each  general  supply  depot  should  be  either  a  line  or  a  staff  officer  specially 
selected  by  and  reporting  direct  to  the  Chief  of  Staff  or  to  the-  department  com- 
mander and  independent  of  the  control  of  any  one  particular  staff  department, 
but  keeping  in  touch  with  all.    The  commander  of  each  general  supply  depot 
should  be  assisted  by  the  necessary  commissioned,  enlisted,  and  civilian  per- 

627 


6 


sonnel.  Supplies  for  not  more  than  three  division  units  should  be  stored  at 
any  one  locality.  Each  place  selected  for  a  reserve  storehouse  should  be  one 
that  will  be  at  all  times  under  adequate  military  protection,  where  ground  is 
available  and  where  abundant  railroad  facilities  exist. 

60.  As  a  general  military  principle,  no  supply  depot,  arsenal,  nor  manufac- 
turing plant  of  any  considerable  size,  supported  by  War  Department  appro- 
priations for  military  purposes  should  be  established  or  maintained  east  of 
the  Appalachian  Mountains,  west  of  Cascade  or  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  nor 
within  two  hundred  miles  of  our  Canadian  or  Mexican  borders,  and  steps  should 
be  taken  gradually  to  cause  to  be  moved,  depots  and  manufacturing  plants 
already  established  in  violation  of  this  military  principle. 

61.  The  estimated  cost  of  the  field  equipment  of  one  Infantry  division,  Tables 
of  Organization;  1914,  is  as  follows : 


Kind  of  supplies. 

Can  be  ob- 
tained in 
the  open 
market  in 
great  quan- 
tities at 
any  time. 

Can  be  ob- 
tained on 
15  days' 
notice. 

Can  be  ob- 
tained on 
three  months' 
notice. 

Can  not  be 
obtained  on 
three  months* 
notice. 

Signal  supplies 

1722.  12 

$1  688.51 

$6  030  46 

1285  310  26 

51  983  35 

54  054  45 

3  177  083  47 

Engineer  supplies*  *                    ..         

1,835.26 

471.59 

7  703.97 

8  428  95 

Ordnance  supplies                                               .  . 

5,  779.  67 

7,  730.  96 

257  489  89 

4  164  770  68 

Medical  supplies 

10  997.95 

10  189  63 

88  861  51 

And  the  estimated  cost  of  one  cavalry  division  of  nine  regiments  is  approxi- 
mately as  follows: 


Can  be  ob- 

Kind of  supplies. 

tained  in 
the  open 
market  in 
great  quan- 
tities at 

Can  be  ob- 
tained on 
15  days' 
notice. 

Can  be  ob- 
tained on 
three  months' 
notice. 

Can  not  be 
obtained  on 
three  months' 
notice. 

any  time. 

Signal  supplies 

$370  80 

$1  638  53 

$4  290  61 

$277  156.43 

Quartermaster  supplies.         

55,  102.  48 

76,143.40 

4,584,628.93 

Engineer  supplies                                     

1,769.59 

416.53 

10,  885.  20 

3,  999.  45 

Ordnance  supplies 

31  862.02 

8  630.56 

311  056.68 

3,541  004.68 

Medical  supplies 

13  454.99 

13  060  57 

108  630  36 

62.  While  the  amount  of  money  involved  is  large,  practically  all  of  it  will 
remain  at  home,  especially  if  every  effort  be  made  by  the  supply  bureaus  to 
eliminate  from  supply  tables  all  articles  not  of  domestic  manufacture.  It  must 
also  be  kept  in  mind  that  it  is  cheaper  to  buy  war  supplies  in  time  of  peace 
than  in  time  of  war. 

4.  The  salient  points  mentioned  in  the  reports  received  are  as 
follows : 

Chief  of  Engineers. — No  adequate  study  made,  but  one  should  be 
made;  work  of  the  several  bureaus  ought  to  be  supervised  and  co- 
ordinated so  that  they  may  be  working  to  the  same  end  and  avoid 
getting  confused  and  overlapping  letters  from  the  manufacturers 
and  commercial  firms  who  would  supply  articles  to  more  than  one 
bureau. 

527 


Chief  Signal  Officer. — Steps  have  been  taken  to  procure  estimates 
as  to  the  quantity  of  material  the  principal  manufacturers  of  the 
country  can  furnish  and  the  probable  length  of  time  necessary  for 
deliveries. 

Chief  of  Ordnance. — A  study  has  been  made  of  the  probable  out- 
put of  ordnance  materiel  of  establishments  in  this  country;  the  de- 
gree of  preparedness  of  these  plants  in  any  future  year  can  not  be 
predicted ;  practically  none  of  the  ordnance  materiel  can  be  procured 
in  less  than  three  months,  and  a  much  longer  time  will  be  required 
for  the  procurement  in  quantity  of  any  of  the  articles,  even  in  case 
of  plants  that  are  thoroughly  equipped  at  the  time  the  orders  are 
placed. 

Surgeon  General. — It  is  known  where  the  necessary  supplies  can 
be  purchased  under  usual  conditions;  a  very  large  number  of  medici- 
nal products  are  imported  and  could  not  be  procured  within  our 
borders,  but  none  are  absolutely  indispensable  except  quinine,  opium, 
and  cocaine;  a  large  proportion  of  surgical  instruments  are  im- 
ported; a  fair  amount  of  soft-metal  goods  can  be  obtained,  but  a 
pinch  would  be  manifested  in  the  lines  of  hand-forged  steel  instru- 
ments, such  as  knives,  hemostatic  forceps,  and  scissors. 

Quartermaster  General. — A  study  has  been  made  of  the  places  of 
origin  and  ability  to  procure  supplies  needed  for  an  army  of  a  mil- 
lion men;  all  the  necessary  articles  are  of  domestic  manufacture 
and  can  be  readily  obtained  on  reasonable  notice. 

5.  The  War  College  Division  can  find  nothing  in  the  reports  re- 
ceived which  indicates  the  advisability  of  changing  its  recommenda- 
tions contained  in  paragraphs  46  to  62,  inclusive,  of  the  Statement 
of  a  Proper  Military  Policy  for  the  United  States,  submitted  Sep- 
tember 11,  1915.  The  War  College  Division  is  of  the  opinion,  how- 
ever, that  before  anything  can  be  accomplished  looking  toward  co- 
ordinated action  in  the  matter  of  storing  reserve  materiel  a  com- 
mittee of  the  General  Staff  Corps  must  be  charged,  under  the  au- 
thority contained  in  section  2  of  the  act  of  Congress  approved  Feb- 
ruary 14,  1903,  with  the  duty  of  supervising  and  coordinating  the 
entire  work  of  preparing  each  year  the  estimates  for  all  amounts 
which  the  War  Department  recommends  that  Congress  appropriate. 

527 

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